Individually

In our current society the key component is "me." It is the individual. That's the basic part that can then be used to configure the other parts -- couples, parents, families, communities, and so on. Makes sense. Or so it seems. So we also assume that's the basic component of Christianity: "me". Because of this notion, we will find plenty of worship love songs that sound a lot like "Jesus is my boyfriend." Because of this idea, we will hear believers saying apparently biblical things like, "Jesus is my Bridegroom." Because of this idea, you find genuine believers who feel no compulsion to be part of a local body of believers. "You and me, Lord. You and me." And I would suggest it's somewhat in error.

In the Old Testament, God chose Abraham to be the father of His chosen people. In a sense, that was the end of the individual (Gen 12:1-3). After that they were "the children of Abraham." A group. Israel was the nation that housed "God's chosen people." a group. The group (obviously) was made up of individuals and God interacted with individuals -- I'm not saying that individuals are not in view -- but it was almost always with a group view. In his epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul writes about believers as being "God's field, God's building" (1 Cor 3:9). When he says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16), he is not speaking of "you" as individuals, but "you" plural. The "temple of God" is the community of Christians. We are called the "body of Christ" (1 Cor 12:12, 27), not as individuals but as a group. He says "we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Rom 12:5). Yes, individuals, but not for individuals -- for the body of Christ, the Church. In Ephesians Paul speaks of the elimination of the divide between Jew and Gentile.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Eph 2:13-16)

"One new man." That's his phrase. That's what Christ has done. Elsewhere in Ephesians he compares marriage to the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph 5:31-32). Not individuals. Jesus is the Bridegroom to the Bride, but the Bride is the body of believers, not individuals.

Christianity doesn't ignore individuals. We are gifted by the Spirit individually, but as parts of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-27), those gifts are for the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:7; Eph 4:15-16). We are each responsible to follow Christ, but the aim is the building up of the body. We are individual components of the temple of God. We are individuals that, as a cohesive group, make up the Bride of Christ. So individuals are not unimportant, but we are not the focus. Christ is. His body is. His Bride is. To the extent that the individual believer is contributing to Christ, to the body, to the Bride is the basic measure of whether or not he or she is following God's plan. As such, "Jesus is my boyfriend," "I am the Bride of Christ," and "Just You and me, Lord" don't make much sense in a biblical worldview (Eph 5:21; Mark 10:35-45; John 13:35). In the human body, individual cells that are simply pursuing their own path have a designation. They are called "cancer." So if you aren't part of a local group of believers today, why aren't you?